Colombia

Why we work in Colombia

Poverty in Colombia has halved over the last 10 years, but it remains one of the countries with the highest income inequality in Latin America.4

26.9% of the population live below the poverty line, of which 7.4% are classed as living in ‘extreme poverty’.5

There are marked differences between outcomes in rural and urban locations: extreme poverty is over three times higher in rural areas, and moderate poverty 55% higher.

Meanwhile, women are significantly less likely to be in employment; women are also more likely to be in low-paid, low quality work.6

Women’s rights in Colombia

In Colombia women are more likely to be unemployed, or employed in low-quality, low-paid jobs for a number of reasons, including the impact of unpaid work like caregiving and housekeeping, which often falls to women.7

Women carry out 7.23 hours of unpaid work per day on average, compared to 3.10 hours per day for men.8

Meanwhile, Colombia has one of the highest proportions of displaced persons in the world, which has severely impacted women. 

80% of the internally displaced are women and children, and 15.8% of the women displaced because of armed conflict have stated that they were also victims of sexual violence.

Many women in Colombia also experience violence in everyday life. According to the Colombian Institute of Forensic Medicine, over 23,000 cases of sexual violence were reported in 2017, 85% of them against women.9